Bengt Grive

Bengt Grive
Grive in 1959.
Born
Bengt Edvin Axel Gustafsson

(1921-03-21)21 March 1921
Stockholm, Sweden
Died17 September 2003(2003-09-17) (aged 82)
Lidingö, Sweden
OccupationsSports commentator, journalist, writer
Spouse
Martha Svensson
​
(m. 1945)​
Children1

Bengt Edvin Axel Grive (born Gustafsson, 21 March 1921 – 17 September 2003) was a Swedish sports commentator, journalist and author.

Early life

Grive was born on 21 March 1921 in Stockholm, Sweden, the son of Edvin Gustafsson and Elsa (née Lindström). Grive worked as a firefighter in Stockholm during a few years in the 1940s.

Career

In his youth, he was part of the Swedish elite in table tennis, during a few years and won the Swedish championship in the sport in 1951.

Grive worked at Aftonbladet newspaper from 1951 to 1956, and performed as a variety show artist from 1953 to 1960. In 1960, he became a reporter for Sveriges Television, where he worked until 1990 when he became a freelance journalist. In 1993, he started working for Eurosport when the channel expanded its broadcast to the Nordics. He got to commentate both tennis and ski jumping. He also became a mentor for among others Chris Härenstam [sv] and Niklas Holmgren [sv].

He is best known for commentating Björn Borg's tennis finals in Wimbledon during the 1970s and 1980s. He also commentated table tennis, figure skating and football.

Personal life

In 1945, Grive married Marta Svensson (1923–2005), the daughter of Ivar Svensson, a merchant, and Linnéa (née Eriksson). They had one daughter, Madeleine Grive (born 1955), a journalist.

Bibliography

References

  1. 1 2 3 Olsson, Caroline (20 March 2008). "Bengt Grive död" [Bengt Grive dies]. Aftonbladet (in Swedish). Archived from the original on 19 March 2018. Retrieved 15 September 2019.
  2. 1 2 3 Salander Mortensen, Jill, ed. (1996). Vem är det: svensk biografisk handbok. 1997 [Who is it: Swedish biographical handbook. 1997] (in Swedish). Stockholm: Norstedt. p. 395. ISBN 91-1-960852-7. SELIBR 3681533. Archived from the original on 25 March 2019. Retrieved 15 September 2019.
  3. ↑ "Grive skulle fyllt 87 år" [Grive would have turned 87 years old]. Kristianstadsbladet (in Swedish). 20 March 2008. Retrieved 15 September 2019.[dead link]
  4. 1 2 "En svensk mästare har gått ur tiden" [A Swedish champion has passed away]. Dagens Nyheter (in Swedish). 8 September 2003. Archived from the original on 27 September 2020. Retrieved 15 September 2019.